First Edition: July 24, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
5 Ways White House Can Use Its Muscle To Undercut Obamacare
President Donald Trump has vowed to “let Obamacare fail,” after legislative efforts to undo the Affordable Care Act have stalled. He and congressional Republicans have repeatedly portrayed the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces, also known as exchanges, as being in a “death spiral.” But independent analyses have concluded that such spontaneous disintegration isn’t happening. (Luthra, 7/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Senate Parliamentarian Upends GOP Hopes For Health Bill
The official rules keeper in the Senate Friday tossed a bucket of cold water on the Senate Republican health bill by advising that major parts of the bill cannot be passed with a simple majority, but rather would require 60 votes. Republicans hold only 52 seats in the Senate. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said that a super-majority is needed for the temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood, abortion coverage restrictions to health plans purchased with tax credits and the requirement that people with breaks in coverage wait six months before they can purchase new plans. (Rovner, 7/21)
Kaiser Health News:
Follow The Money: Drugmakers Deploy Political Cash As Prices And Anger Mount
Two federal investigations — one examining opioid sales, another about a multiple sclerosis drug whose price had soared to $34,000 a vial — were only part of the troubles Mallinckrodt faced as the year began. The stock of the drugmaker, whose United States headquarters are in St. Louis, was tanking. Wall Street worried that Medicare might reduce the half-billion dollars it was spending yearly on a Mallinckrodt drug with limited evidence of effectiveness. (Hancock, Lucas and Lupkin, 7/24)
Kaiser Health News:
In Appalachia, Two Hospital Giants Seek State-Sanctioned Monopoly
Looking out a fourth-floor window of his hospital system’s headquarters, Alan Levine can see the Appalachian Mountains that have defined this hardscrabble region for generations. What gets the CEO’s attention, though, is neither the steep hills in the distance nor one of his Mountain States Health Alliance hospitals across the parking lot. Rather, it’s a nearby shopping center where his main rival — Wellmont Health System, which owns seven area hospitals — runs an urgent care and outpatient cancer center. Mountain States offers the same services just up the road. (Galewitz, 7/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Opioid Treatment Funds In Senate Bill Would Fall Far Short Of Needs
At a lunch last week, President Trump tried to persuade some reluctant senators to endorse repealing the Affordable Care Act. During the meeting, he mentioned a provision in the Senate Republican proposal that allocates funding for opioid treatment, saying, “We’re committing $45 billion to help combat the opioid epidemic, and some states in particular like that. ”But addiction treatment specialists warn that sum of money is far from enough to address a crisis that has escalated across the United States in recent years, killing tens of thousands of people. (Allen, 7/24)
California Healthline:
California Valley Fever Cases Highest On Record
The number of Valley Fever cases in California rose to a record level in 2016, with 5,372 reported — a jump of 71 percent from the previous year. Historically, about three-quarters of cases have been in the state’s heavily agricultural San Joaquin Valley. The fungal infection, known as coccidioidomycosis, or “cocci,” is most common in the southern portion of the Valley and along the Central Coast of California. (Bartolone, 7/24)
The Associated Press:
Dems: Anti-Abortion Provisions In Health Bill In Jeopardy
The Senate parliamentarian added a new complication to Republican hopes for their floundering health care bill, ruling the GOP would need to win an all-but-impossible 60 votes to retain anti-abortion provisions in the measure, Democrats said late Friday. (Fram, 7/21)
The New York Times:
Senate Parliamentarian Challenges Key Provisions Of Health Bill
The provisions appear to violate Senate rules, the parliamentarian said, giving Democrats grounds to challenge them as the Senate prepares for a battle next week over the future of the Affordable Care Act. One provision questioned by the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, and cherished by conservatives would cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood for one year. Another would prohibit use of federal subsidies to buy insurance that includes coverage for abortions. (Pear and Kaplan, 7/21)
The Washington Post:
Senate Rules Could Complicate Prospects For GOP Health Bill
While not a final ruling, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s assessment threatens to further anger conservatives such as Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who say the GOP health-care bill does not go far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act. (Snell and Eilperin, 7/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Parliamentary Rules Likely To Prevent Senate GOP From Defunding Planned Parenthood
Ms. MacDonough’s recommendations were released by Senate Democrats. “The parliamentarian’s decision today proves once again that the process Republicans have undertaken to repeal the Affordable Care Act and throw 22 million Americans off of health insurance is a disaster,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), the most senior member of the Democratic caucus on the Budget Committee, said in a statement Friday. (Peterson, 7/21)
Politico:
Parliamentarian Rules Against Key Provisions In Obamacare Repeal Bill
The parliamentarian's guidance — provided as part of a process known on Capitol Hill as a "Byrd bath" — amounts to a significant win for Democrats, who are aiming to eliminate as much from the health care bill as possible. But Republicans cautioned that the rulings apply to a prior version of the Senate bill, and GOP aides are already reworking some of the provisions flagged by the parliamentarian, according to one source familiar with the effort. GOP lawmakers faced similar obstacles over language eliminating Obamacare's individual and employer mandates when they drafted the 2015 repeal bill but overcame them through rewrites. (Haberkorn and Kim, 7/21)
The Washington Post:
Senate Republicans Plan To Plow Ahead With Health-Care Vote This Week
The Senate returns to Washington on Monday with its GOP leaders determined to vote this week on their years-long quest to demolish the Affordable Care Act, even though the goal remains mired in political and substantive uncertainties. Central questions include whether enough Senate Republicans will converge on any version of their leaders’ health-care plan and whether significant aspects of the legislation being considered can fit within arcane parliamentary rules. (Goldstein, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
GOP Health Bill Still A Mystery Before Planned Vote
The Senate will move forward with a key vote this week on a Republican health bill but it's not yet known whether the legislation will seek to replace President Barack Obama's health care law or simply repeal it. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will make a decision soon on which bill to bring up for a vote, depending on ongoing discussions with GOP senators. (7/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Republicans Unsure Of What Health-Care Measure They Will Vote On
Some senators said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has told them they would know before the vote whether they would be asked to allow debate on some version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or legislation that would repeal the ACA with a two-year expiration date. GOP leaders’ current strategy is to lean heavily on lawmakers to at least vote to allow debate on the bill, in the hopes that amendments and other tweaks could yield an agreement. (Andrews, Armour and Peterson, 7/23)
Los Angeles Times:
'I Don't Even Know What We're Proceeding To Next Week.' Obamacare Vote Nears With Key Details Still Missing
The uncertainty so close to a major vote is feeding a growing sense of chaos on Capitol Hill, where GOP senators are openly fretting about the lack of information about legislation that could leave anywhere from 22 million to 32 million more Americans without health insurance. "I don’t even know what we’re proceeding to next week," said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a centrist Republican who has called on her party’s leaders to take a more measured approach to fixing the current healthcare law. (Levey, 7/21)
Politico:
McConnell's Last-Ditch Obamacare Strategy
Talking is no longer working. It's time to vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is taking the rare step of forcing his members to take a tough vote on an Obamacare repeal bill, H.R. 1628 (115), that is on track to fail, making them own their votes. (Haberkorn and Kim, 7/21)
The Associated Press:
More Reason For Rejecting GOP Health Bill Than Reviving It
There are many reasons why the Senate will probably reject Republicans' crowning bill razing much of former President Barack Obama's health care law. There are fewer why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might revive it and avert a GOP humiliation. (Fram, 7/24)
Politico:
GOP Despairs At Inability To Deliver
The Republican Party is more powerful than it’s been in more than a decade — and yet it has never seemed so weak. Continuing chaos in the White House has been punctuated by the failure to deliver on the GOP’s seven-year pledge to overhaul Obamacare, and has many asking whether the party can capitalize on the sweeping victories it has achieved at the federal, state, and local levels. (Johnson and Dawsey, 7/23)
Politico:
Thune: Senate Won’t Give Up On Obamacare Repeal If Bill Fails This Week
If the Senate’s latest Obamacare repeal efforts collapse this week, Republicans will “go back to the drawing board” and try again, Senate GOP Conference chairman John Thune said on Sunday. (Ehley, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
GOP’s Ted Cruz Says He Still Sees Path Ahead On Health Care
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz says he believes there is still a path to getting a health care bill passed, despite “a handful of holdouts.” Cruz told Fox News’ ”Fox & Friends” on Friday that “we’ve got to deliver now. There is a path to yes.” (7/21)
The Associated Press:
Mixed Signals From Trump White House On Health Care Strategy
Repeal and replace "Obamacare." Just repeal. Or let it fail — maybe with a little nudge. President Donald Trump has sent a flurry of mixed messages, raising questions about the White House strategy on health care. Democrats say Trump's confusing signals are part of a strategy to destabilize the Affordable Care Act, as a way to force recalcitrant Republicans in Congress to repeal former President Barack Obama's signature law. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Thomas, 7/22)
USA Today:
Trump To Speak Monday On Health Care
President Trump on Monday will speak to the press at the White House about health care, minutes after meeting with what he calls “victims of Obamacare. ”The statement, announced late Sunday by the White House, comes nearly a week after Trump pressed Republican senators to agree to an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, before taking an August recess. (Toppo, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
Trump Tweets Frustration With Republicans, Health Care
President Donald Trump expressed his frustration with Republicans on Sunday, saying they "do very little to protect their President." In one of several tweets issued in the afternoon and evening, Trump said the lack of support happens even with "some that were carried over the line on my back." (7/23)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
White House Video Misleads On CBO Health-Care Estimates
The venerable Congressional Budget Office is under attack. Established in 1975 by Congress to provide independent analyses of legislation, the nonpartisan agency is under fire for its estimates of the effect of Republican proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Kessler, 7/24)
Politico:
Former CBO Directors Hit Back At GOP Criticism Of Agency
All eight former directors of the Congressional Budget Office fired back Friday at Republican attacks on the nonpartisan scorekeeping agency over its projections that Obamacare repeal would leave millions more uninsured. In a letter to congressional leaders, the former chiefs wrote that the CBO has a long track record of producing high-quality and nonpartisan reports. (Cancryn, 7/21)
The Associated Press:
Doctors' Group Tells Senate To Fix, Not Repeal 'Obamacare'
The nation's largest doctors' group urged senators on Friday to stop trying to repeal or replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and instead begin a bipartisan effort to stabilize the insurance marketplace. The American Medical Association said proposed Republican bills — one to repeal and replace the 2010 health law, the other to repeal only — would cause too many people to lose coverage. (Johnson, 7/21)
The New York Times:
Small Businesses Split Over Republican Health Plans
Small-business owners have been some of the most vocal opponents of the Affordable Care Act. One trade group fought the overhaul all the way to the Supreme Court. But for many solo entrepreneurs and freelancers, the seeming collapse of the Senate’s efforts to repeal and replace the law came as a relief. (Cowley, 7/23)
USA Today:
Thousands Of Nuns Urge Senators To Vote Against Obamacare Repeal
Thousands of American nuns have signed a letter to senators asking them to reject the Republican plan to bring up a health care bill this week that they say is "immoral and contrary to the teachings of our Catholic faith." (Singer, 7/23)
The Washington Post:
Fear Of Medicaid Cuts Looms At School That Serves Students With Disabilities
At [St. Coletta Special Education Public Charter School in Southeast Washington], where all students have special needs, tiny pieces of progress can add up to life-changing trajectories. The school relies on funding from Medicaid to employ a cadre of therapists. But with each twist in the health-care debate on Capitol Hill, staff members wonder whether their Medicaid dollars could be at risk. (McLaren, 7/22)
The New York Times:
When Health Law Isn’t Enough, The Desperate Line Up At Tents
Anthony Marino, 54, reached into his car trunk to show a pair of needle-nosed pliers like the ones he used to yank out a rotting tooth. Shirley Akers, 58, clutched a list of 20 medications she takes, before settling down to a sleepless night in the cab of a pickup truck. Robin Neal, 40, tried to inject herself with a used-up insulin pen, but it broke, and her blood sugar began to skyrocket. (Gabriel, 7/23)
The Washington Post:
To Get Treatment At A Free Clinic, The Crowds Come Early — Sometimes The Night Before
Parked at the edge of the field, they covered the windows so the little girls could sleep inside the car. The grown-ups slept on blankets outside on the grass. Before 5 a.m. Saturday, the family joined the sleepy crowds drifting toward the fence of the Wise County fairgrounds. Soon day two of the Remote Area Medical clinic would begin letting people in. Some had camped overnight, others were just arriving in the dark. The day before, more than 1,250 people from all over Appalachia showed up for free medical, dental and vision care. (Schneider, 7/22)
USA Today:
Many Of Key Players On Trump Health Care Reform Team Are Hoosiers
Several Hoosiers in key positions in the Trump administration, led by Vice President Mike Pence, are negotiating the future of federal health policy despite the state’s mixed reputation on health care. Indiana spends less on public health funding than any other except Nevada, a handicap when Indiana was home to the nation’s first HIV outbreak linked to the injection of oral painkillers in 2015. In addition, the state for years has ranked among the least healthy. Hoosiers smoke more, are less active and die sooner than most Americans. (Groppe, 7/23)
The New York Times:
New C.D.C. Chief Saw Coca-Cola As Ally In Obesity Fight
When she was health commissioner of Georgia, the state with one of the highest rates of child obesity, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald faced two enormous challenges: How to get children to slim down and how to pay for it. Her answer to the first was Power Up for 30, a program pushing schools to give children 30 minutes more exercise each day, part of a statewide initiative called Georgia Shape. The answer to the second was Coca-Cola, the soft drink company and philanthropic powerhouse, which has paid for almost the entire Power Up program. (Kaplan, 7/22)
The Associated Press:
House Unveils Plan To Fix VA’s Budget Gap As Deadline Looms
A House committee unveiled a disputed plan Friday to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to shift $2 billion from other programs to cover a sudden budget shortfall that could threaten medical care for thousands of patients in the coming weeks. The proposal by the House Veterans Affairs Committee would provide a six-month funding fix to the department’s Choice program, which offers veterans federally paid medical care outside the VA and is a priority of President Donald Trump. To offset spending, the VA would trim pensions for some veterans and collect fees for housing loans. (Yen, 7/21)
The Associated Press:
Vet Groups Urge House To Reject Plan To Fix VA's Budget Gap
Eight major veterans' organizations on Saturday urged Congress to provide emergency money to the Department of Veterans Affairs without cutting other VA programs as the House moved quickly to address a budget shortfall that threatened medical care for thousands of patients. (Yen, 7/22)
Reuters:
U.S. Abortion Support Groups Put On More Public Face
Patricia Canon drives poor rural Kentucky women to distant abortion clinics each week, part of a national army of volunteers who are growing bolder even as abortion foes ratchet up opposition to the activists they have branded as "accomplices to murder." The Kentucky Health Justice Network, where she volunteers, is one of dozens of non-profit U.S. abortion funds providing money for procedures or covering travel costs to help women obtain abortions, particularly in states where Republican-backed laws have narrowed options. (Kenning, 7/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Lawyers Hope To Do To Opioid Makers What They Did To Big Tobacco
The legal front widening against makers of opioid painkillers has something in common with landmark tobacco litigation of the 1990s: attorney Mike Moore. As Mississippi’s attorney general in 1994, Mr. Moore filed the first state lawsuit against tobacco companies, saying they harmed public-health systems by misrepresenting smoking’s dangers. He helped marshal the subsequent spate of state litigation and then the talks that led to a $246 billion settlement. (Whalen, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
Tool To Help Police In Opioid Crisis Draws Privacy Concern
New Jersey is the latest state amid a national opioid crisis to consider allowing police and law enforcement officials to access its prescription drug monitoring database without a court order, pitting patient rights to privacy against the government's ability to investigate so-called doctor shopping. (Catalini, 7/23)
The Washington Post:
Dying After Childbirth: Women In Texas Are At High Risk, Especially If They’re Black
Black women in Texas are dying with frightening frequency after childbirth — at a rate up to nearly three times higher than that of white women. And no one has figured out why. In a state with the worst overall maternal mortality in the nation, the Texas legislature opened a special session this week that will address the issue as one of 20 items that Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) listed in calling lawmakers back to work. The most they may do, however, is extend and expand the scope of a task force that started studying the problem a few years ago. (Murgia, 7/21)
The Associated Press:
Tennessee Inmates Get Reduced Sentences For Birth Control
A program in a Tennessee county reduces inmates’ jail time if they voluntarily undergo birth control procedures, in a move that has drawn criticism from the local district attorney and the American Civil Liberties Union. WTVF-TV reports General Sessions Judge Sam Benninfield signed a standing order in May that provides 30 days’ credit toward jail time for men who agree to free vasectomies in White County and women who agree to receive free Nexplanon implants, which prevent pregnancies for up to four years. (7/21)
The New York Times:
Companies Rush To Develop ‘Utterly Transformative’ Gene Therapies
The approval of gene therapy for leukemia, expected in the next few months, will open the door to a radically new class of cancer treatments. Companies and universities are racing to develop these new therapies, which re-engineer and turbocharge millions of a patient’s own immune cells, turning them into cancer killers that researchers call a “living drug.” One of the big goals now is to get them to work for many other cancers, including those of the breast, prostate, ovary, lung and pancreas. (Grady, 7/23)
The Washington Post:
New Hope For HIV Cure As Child Remains Virus-Free Years After Final Treatment
A South African boy, believed to have been infected with HIV around the time of his birth, has remained free of the virus for 8½ years after early treatment — renewing hope among scientists that such outliers may hold clues to help end the decades-old epidemic. The case study, described by researchers before a presentation Monday at an international AIDS conference in Paris, suggests a paradigm shift in the treatment of those infected. It establishes that HIV may be controllable in some way other than a daily and lifelong regimen of antiretroviral drugs. (Cha, 7/24)
NPR:
Alternatives To Vaccination Shots Are In Development
News this summer of a flu vaccine patch sparked a lot of chatter. Could getting vaccinated be as easy as putting on a bandage? Could there be fewer, or at least smaller, needles in our future? Some companies and academic labs are working to make those things happen. (Columbus, 7/23)
The New York Times:
Another Possible Indignity Of Age: Arrest
It was the sort of incident that happens at facilities that care for people with dementia. At a residence for older adults in San Francisco last summer, Carol King momentarily left a common sitting area. When Ms. King returned, she found that another resident had taken her chair, a nurse who witnessed the episode later reported. She grabbed the usurper’s wrist. (Span, 7/21)
NPR:
Concussions May Hit Female Brains Harder, Research Suggests
Thanks to research on boxers and football players, both athletes and the public are becoming more aware of the dangers of sports-related head injuries. Yet there is little data on participants like Mazany. That's because, unlike the vast majority of athletes studied, she is a woman. "We classically have always known the male response to brain injury," says Mark Burns, at Georgetown University. But there have been remarkably few studies of females. The bias runs throughout the scientific literature, even in studies of mice. (Hamilton, 7/24)
NPR:
Inflammation Can Be Bad For Your Health, Or Good
Chronic, low-level inflammation seems to play a role in a host of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer and even depression. And even though the science on inflammation and disease is far from settled, tests and treatments are being promoted that claim to reduce that risk. (Hobson, 7/21)
Los Angeles Times:
USC Received More Than A Year Of Questions About Former Medical School Dean's Conduct Before Scandal Broke
Four days after The Times published a story about drug use by the then-dean of USC’s medical school, the university announced it was moving to fire Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito and said it was “outraged and disgusted” by his conduct. USC Provost Michael Quick said the university decided to act because it had been shown “extremely troubling” information that same day about Puliafito’s behavior. Quick provided no details. But he said it was “the first time we saw such information firsthand.” (Pringle, Elmahrek, Hamilton and Parvini, 7/23)
The Associated Press:
New Jersey Becomes 3rd State To Raise Smoking Age To 21
Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a law Friday making New Jersey the third state to raise its smoking age to 21. Christie cited the strain on the health care system caused by tobacco-related illnesses. He also noted his mother died from the effects of smoking. (7/21)
The Washington Post:
He Thought He Just Had Blisters From A Hike. He Had Flesh-Eating Bacteria And Nearly Died.
Wayne Atkins thought little of the blisters he had gotten while hiking. He was trekking up and down the 4,500-foot-high Mount Garfield in New Hampshire — 10-miles round-trip — and blisters were no surprise. He was in the Granite State for a family member's early June wedding, which went off without a hitch, even with the blisters. But things soured when he returned to Miami, according to Manchester, N.H., ABC affiliate WMUR-TV. (Wootson, 7/23)